Poll: Gay marriage gains support, Paterson does not

New York Gov. David Paterson’s popularity in the state continues to tank, but his effort to legalize same-sex marriage has the support of a majority of voters, according to a poll released Monday.

The Siena College Research Institute poll found the Democrat is now viewed unfavorably by 63 percent of New Yorkers, down from 58 percent last month.

His job performance rating stood at 81 percent negative after a series of missteps eroded the strong public support he enjoyed when he was thrust into office 13 months ago as the state’s first black and legally blind governor.

Earlier polls have shown several issues hurt Paterson, including his secretive budget process that raised taxes but cut spending less than he promised, and how he handled filling Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s vacated Senate seat, a botched process that ended in unfounded leaks of accusations against one-time candidate Caroline Kennedy.

The Siena poll also found 53 percent of voters want a gay marriage bill backed by Paterson passed in the Senate, where it continues to languish. Support was strongest among New York City Democrats, the political base of the governor from Harlem. Thirty-nine percent of voters oppose the measure including most Republicans, men, older voters, blacks and Protestants.

Earlier this month, a Quinnipiac University poll showed that 41 percent of New York voters backed legalized same-sex marriage, 33 percent favored civil unions, and that 19 percent wanted no legal recognition for such couples.

Paterson plans to seek election in 2010, but polls show that at this point he would be trounced by several potential opponents, led by Democratic Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and Republican Rudy Giuliani.

“If the governor was hoping that the passage of an on-time budget, or his recent road trip to distribute money for infrastructure and other projects, was going to help begin to raise his popularity after two months of dramatic decline, he is going to be disappointed,” said pollster Steven Greenberg.

The latest Siena poll surveyed 682 registered voters from Monday through Wednesday last week. It has margin of error of nearly 4 percentage points.